McCutchen homers again as Pirates beat Brewers 6-4

Milwaukee Brewers' Corey Ransom (21) reacts after his grand slam home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 13, 2012, in Milwaukee.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

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Casey McGehee also went deep and Kevin Correia pitched six effective innings as the Pirates remained tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the NL Central lead. Correia (6-6) allowed four runs, two earned, and four hits while improving to 4-0 with a 3.81 ERA in his last five starts.

McCutchen hit his 20th homer in the third and also made a nice sliding catch on a sinking line drive by Martin Maldonaldo with two runners on to end the eighth. The All-Star center fielder is batting .447 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs in his last 28 games, and leads the majors with a .366 batting average.

Pittsburgh pushed across two runs in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, making the most of two errors and a passed ball by the sloppy Brewers.

Clint Barmes led off with a single and moved to second when the ball went under the glove of left fielder Ryan Braun. Pinch-hitter Josh Harrison then reached when reliever Kameron Loe (4-3) picked up his sacrifice and threw wildly to first, allowing Barmes to score.

Harrison went all the way to third on Neil Walker's single and scored on Maldonado's passed ball.

McGehee started the eighth with a drive off Tyler Thornburg for his seventh homer. McGehee finished with three hits.

Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth for his 24th save.

Milwaukee starter Marco Estrada struck out 11 in 5 2-3 innings and was charged with three runs and six hits.

The Brewers scored two in the second and two more in the third to build a 4-2 lead. Corey Hart had an RBI triple in the second and a sacrifice fly in the third.

NOTES: Walker extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an infield hit in the sixth. ... Pirates OF Alex Presley started in left field Saturday for Triple-A Indianapolis and led off with a single as he began a rehab assignment against the Columbus Clippers. He's been on the seven-day concussion list since July 5. ... Brewers C Jonathan Lucroy made a series of throws to second and third during pregame drills and then headed off to practice his swing. Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Lucroy, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a broken finger in his right hand, looked good hitting off a tee.